Robert F. Kennedy summary

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Robert F. Kennedy, (born Nov. 20, 1925, Brookline, Mass., U.S.—died June 6, 1968, Los Angeles, Calif.), U.S. politician. The son of Joseph P. Kennedy, he interrupted his education at Harvard University to serve in World War II; he was graduated from Harvard in 1948 and received a law degree from the University of Virginia in 1951. He managed the U.S. Senate campaign of his brother John F. Kennedy in 1952. In 1957 he became chief counsel to the Senate committee investigating labour racketeering; he resigned the post in 1960 to manage his brother’s presidential campaign. As U.S. attorney general (1961–64), he led a drive against organized crime that resulted in the conviction of labour leader Jimmy Hoffa. In 1964 he was elected to the U.S. Senate from New York. He became a spokesman for liberal Democrats and a critic of the Vietnam policy of Lyndon B. Johnson. In 1968, while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination in Los Angeles, he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, a Palestinian immigrant.

Joseph P. Kennedy Summary

Joseph P. Kennedy was an American businessman and financier who served in government commissions in Washington, D.C. (1934–37), and as ambassador to Great Britain (1937–40). He was the father of U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy and Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Ted Kennedy. Joseph Kennedy was the son of

Democratic Party Summary

Democratic Party, in the United States, one of the two major political parties, the other being the Republican Party. The Democratic Party has changed significantly during its more than two centuries of existence. During the 19th century the party supported or tolerated slavery, and it opposed

John F. Kennedy Summary

John F. Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States (1961–63), who faced a number of foreign crises, especially in Cuba and Berlin, but managed to secure such achievements as the Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty and the Alliance for Progress. He was assassinated while riding in a motorcade in

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not